Pillar bedding
- Thread starter Tam16
- Start date
AN DU RU FOX
Well-Known Member
You have to go to college/uni these days in modern Britain just to boil an egg! christ they dont even fasten their shoelaces anymore they just tuck them down the side of their shoes!
i wouldn,t let half of them lick me a stamp.
Ronin
Distinguished Member
I’ve just put right a home done “ bedding job “ on a very expensive stock that looked like stevie wonder did it
The stock, which was as new had essentially been ruined by the actions of the amateur who had touched it before
It was so bad another gunsmith would not undertake they work
It took a great deal of time and effort to rectify what had been done and even when the bedding was completed there were cosmetic marks that could only be corrected with a full Re coat
I have another brand of stock in the workshop that has been bedded by a ham fisted person and bought cheap by the current owner for me to rectify and put on their rifle
My point is both these stocks were in excess of 800 Each and sold for a fraction of that due to amateurish efforts at bedding - “to save a few pennies”
Which turned out to be a very costly exercise for them having to sell their stocks due to mistakes made Because they could not rectify the damage done
Get it done properly
The stock, which was as new had essentially been ruined by the actions of the amateur who had touched it before
It was so bad another gunsmith would not undertake they work
It took a great deal of time and effort to rectify what had been done and even when the bedding was completed there were cosmetic marks that could only be corrected with a full Re coat
I have another brand of stock in the workshop that has been bedded by a ham fisted person and bought cheap by the current owner for me to rectify and put on their rifle
My point is both these stocks were in excess of 800 Each and sold for a fraction of that due to amateurish efforts at bedding - “to save a few pennies”
Which turned out to be a very costly exercise for them having to sell their stocks due to mistakes made Because they could not rectify the damage done
Get it done properly
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The thing is Muir, "In the olden days" you used to make things, fix things twiddle about with things, take things apart to see how they worked. But these days nobody does it, unless of course they have either NO hair or Grey hair.
Personally im all for trying anything ive never done before. If it turns out good then fine, if not I've tried, he who fails never does anything.
hybridfiat
Well-Known Member
"Fail to use, or not in the correct place, enough release agent and it "will" become expensive. "
A good trick to remember is if the barrel and action are solidly glued together, stick it in a freezer for a day then holding the rifle (by the stock) upside down over a cushioning surface; sharply but judiciously tap the barrel with a nylon faced hammer. Epoxies lose their grip at very low temps.
There was a fashion in target shooting during the 70s of gluing the barrel to the stock. I used the freezer trick more than once to recover an Omark without damage.
A far worse problem is if you have not used enough 'dam' material in the right places. That can be really problematic.
A good trick to remember is if the barrel and action are solidly glued together, stick it in a freezer for a day then holding the rifle (by the stock) upside down over a cushioning surface; sharply but judiciously tap the barrel with a nylon faced hammer. Epoxies lose their grip at very low temps.
There was a fashion in target shooting during the 70s of gluing the barrel to the stock. I used the freezer trick more than once to recover an Omark without damage.
A far worse problem is if you have not used enough 'dam' material in the right places. That can be really problematic.
Ratwhiskers
Well-Known Member
l had a rifle shown to me that had been built from the best of everything, barrel, action, stock etc...
Yet it would not shoot as accurately as expected
When stripped and inspected it was found that for some unforeseen reason the top of the pillars under the action had been counter bored. When torque was applied at different poundages the groups scattered all over the place.
l can only deduce that the lowering of the pillars was causing the bedding to rise and "bridge" in some way making the action rock in the inlet and so wrecking accuracy.
lt took some time to discover the torque setting that the action would accept and shoot within what the chap desired.
hybridfiat
Well-Known Member
When pillar bedding the stock is bored to the exact depth, then the pillars held in place with the action by headless bolts is dropped into the prepared bed of epoxy.
The bolts used have no head to grip the floor plate. So the whole shabang has to be carefully balanced to allow space below the barrel but adequate support and height in the stock
Very importantly the action and pillar mating surfaces have to be in close contact.
I machined bolts with a shoulder to allow the counter-bored pillars to be tight while they still slipped through the floorplate holes.
Preparation is everything.
The bolts used have no head to grip the floor plate. So the whole shabang has to be carefully balanced to allow space below the barrel but adequate support and height in the stock
Very importantly the action and pillar mating surfaces have to be in close contact.
I machined bolts with a shoulder to allow the counter-bored pillars to be tight while they still slipped through the floorplate holes.
Preparation is everything.
After procrastinating for ages I recently took the plunge and epoxy bedded two CZs, one a rimfire with factory wood stock, the other a centre fire with a Bell & Carlson aftermarket. I’m no DIY expert where I’m around the ‘changing the car’s oil and filter or putting up a shelf’ level but I can honestly report that the bedding job was a doddle. After the relief of finding that I hadn’t permanently glued my rifles together I can say it was fun to do too.
Professional bedding jobs are neater and undoubtedly better, but I’m pleased I took a chance. Both rifles shoot better too which was the whole point, but I have saved some money and learned something new as well so I’m well satisfied.
BTW, I’m glad I hadn’t seen the long how to videos linked above before tackling the job as they would have put me off thinking it was too complicated. Cavedweller1959 on YouTube has a got some straightforward bedding job videos that explain what’s needed without labouring the point.
Professional bedding jobs are neater and undoubtedly better, but I’m pleased I took a chance. Both rifles shoot better too which was the whole point, but I have saved some money and learned something new as well so I’m well satisfied.
BTW, I’m glad I hadn’t seen the long how to videos linked above before tackling the job as they would have put me off thinking it was too complicated. Cavedweller1959 on YouTube has a got some straightforward bedding job videos that explain what’s needed without labouring the point.
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bobjs
Well-Known Member
I have had it done on rifles that i have had over the years but get this,
Tikka 595 in 6mmbr fully bedded for around £200 by a reputable smith and it shoots like you want to,
So
To prove a point i took the rifles out of the stock and p[lced it into a factory walnut stock
Results
No difference what so ever the rifle shot the same no matter what stock it was in,
Then to prove a point to myself again i took my 595 in 20 tac out of the synthetic stock it lives in and shot a group using the fully bedded stock and the factory walnut stock and it shot more or less the same in all three,
We then put both of them in my mates FORM 595thumb hole stock purchased on this very forum, and guess what,
Very similar results no matter what stock we used,
Cost a lot of ammo and a lot of time and it simply showed that sometimes we tend to do things to the rifles we may not need to do.
Bob.
PS: I now have one bedded stock fitted to the 6mm br and all the others are normal factory walnut or synthetic stocks, and i wont be spending anything on bedded ever again.
Tikka 595 in 6mmbr fully bedded for around £200 by a reputable smith and it shoots like you want to,
So
To prove a point i took the rifles out of the stock and p[lced it into a factory walnut stock
Results
No difference what so ever the rifle shot the same no matter what stock it was in,
Then to prove a point to myself again i took my 595 in 20 tac out of the synthetic stock it lives in and shot a group using the fully bedded stock and the factory walnut stock and it shot more or less the same in all three,
We then put both of them in my mates FORM 595thumb hole stock purchased on this very forum, and guess what,
Very similar results no matter what stock we used,
Cost a lot of ammo and a lot of time and it simply showed that sometimes we tend to do things to the rifles we may not need to do.
Bob.
PS: I now have one bedded stock fitted to the 6mm br and all the others are normal factory walnut or synthetic stocks, and i wont be spending anything on bedded ever again.
paul o'
Well-Known Member
Its like owning a Range Rover when you look into it its just cheap parts wrapped up in a posh name from yester year ! but owned by Tatta ! ,also sadly in the world we now live in there is a shortage of folks that work with there hands and find things like drilling straight and mixing epoxy very difficult and they think such things are beyond there skills ? . Most guys I work with can drive a PC but have no clue how the network gets to there desk from the box with flashing lights on the wall 
I successfully bedded my Sako 75, which is one of the more awkward actions to bed. Spent hours watching videos and asking questions and not sleeping the night I did it. Not sure if it’s any more accurate, but it’s one less variable and I learnt a thing or 2 about the rifle. As long as it’s not a Sako, crack on, just make sure you get at least 2 coats of release agent( clear boot polish), on everything And don’t scrimp on the plasticine. Good luck
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